Mass action: TUC, NLC salute Nigerians

The Trade Union Congress has thanked Nigerians for turning out in their millions for a mass action aimed not just at forcing the reversal of the pump price of petrol but to also instill transparency in governance.

The Nigeria Labour Congress also expressed its gratitude to Nigerians for supporting the move to instill transparency into government.

The TUC in a statement on Monday after the first day of the mass action, said it was impressed with the turnout of Nigerians in the march towards making the country greater.

The statement reads: “The Trade Union Congress of Nigeria wishes to thank every Nigerian throughout the length and breadth of this country for standing up today in total compliance and in full solidarity with our call to shut down Nigeria. You have proved a point and the statement is very loud, it is very clear and it is already resonating across the globe. You have boldly stated and without equivocation that the obnoxious policies of the Jonathan administration in hiking the price of fuel is not only insensitive to the yearnings and aspirations of Nigerians but a serious affront on the rights and privileges of the citizenry. By not only deciding to join the nationwide strike but to also join the various street protests, you have shown your desire for a change in the way we are governed as a people and as a nation. We urge you to continue in this spirit and to remain resolute in your determination to get the forces that have hijacked the nation from us to back down and revert to N65/litre of PMS. Let our hands be boldly once again joined together across the various divides in the country from Maidugiri to Sokoto, down to Abuja, Ibadan, Lagos, Enugu, Awka, Calabar, Benin and Portharcourt as wee move into the DAY 2 of our operation RECLAIM NIGERIA. Come out again enmasse tomorrow, mobilize your street, your neighbourhood, your Community and Associations. Let messages be sent to the Mosques so that they will assemble during their morning prayers to protest the fuel price hike, let emissaries be sent to the various Christian groups to rise and march to register their grievances over this anti-people and wicked policy of fuel price increment. Let tomorrow be bigger than today. We count on you as this is a collective battle of all of us Nigerians thus it needs our collective pursuit to succeed. We must not continue allowing the present reign of evil to continue – corruption and fraud has taken over the corridors of the seat of power giving a very minuscule proportion of the citizenry access to over 99% of our collective resources. The statement is already becoming compelling and tomorrow, we shall make it more impactful. All the structures of misgovernance and fraud must be collapsed and we, are the ones to make them do it. LET’S DO IT AGAIN!

The NLC statement, signed by Chris Uyot, its Head of Information, reads: The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Trade Union Congress (TUC) and Civil Society Organisations commend workers and the Nigerian people for their overwhelming support and commitment to the fight against the sudden astronomical increase in the price of petrol.  The general strike and mass protests today was very successful, with a large number of Nigerians coming out to show their feelings against the insensitivity and callousness of the Federal Government in increasing petrol prices from N65 per litre to N141 and N250.

However, we are sad that despite the resolve of workers and the Nigerian people to keep the protest peaceful, the Federal Government unleashed its security machinery against the people.  As a result, some Nigerians were reportedly injured and killed in cold blood in Kano and Lagos.

This mindless killing of unarmed Nigerians on a peaceful protest is strongly condemned, and the Inspector General of Police and President Jonathan will be held responsible for these senseless deaths. We have started the process with the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) to bring these culprits to book.

We call on workers and the Nigerian people to continue to participate actively everyday in the general strike and mass protests all over the country to ensure that the price of Petrol is brought back to N65 per litre.

Stand up to be counted!